Daniel (Greek) 9:7-11: a reflection

7“Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of face, as it is today—to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near, and who are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you. 8Lord, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. 9To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness; for we have rebelled against him. 10We haven’t obeyed the LORD our God’s voice, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11Yes, all Israel have transgressed your law, turning aside, that they wouldn’t obey your voice. “Therefore the curse and the oath written in the law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us; for we have sinned against him.

Daniel's great prayer of confession has a striking honesty to it. He does not minimize or excuse: To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, because we have sinned against you. He names the sin plainly, and he owns the shame of it, for himself and his people. And in the same breath, he clings to the other truth: To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him.

Notice how Daniel holds two things together without softening either. On one side, he fully owns the sin and its shame: to us belongs shame, because we have sinned and rebelled. He does not deflect blame or dress it up. On the other side, he holds fast to God's character: to the Lord belong mercy and forgiveness. He does not let his honesty about sin drive him to despair, nor let his hope in mercy dull his honesty about sin. Both are true, and he confesses both.

That is the shape of real confession. It neither minimizes our sin, insisting we are not so bad, nor collapses into hopelessness, feeling we are beyond mercy. It says both: to us shame, to you mercy. When you come to confess your own sin, follow Daniel. Own it fully and honestly, without excuse, and at the same time hold fast to the God to whom belong mercy and forgiveness. Honest confession and confident hope in mercy belong together. Name your sin plainly, and cast yourself on the God who forgives.

Lord, Daniel confessed honestly, to us belongs shame, because we have sinned, and yet held fast to the truth that to you belong mercy and forgiveness. Teach me that same honest confession: neither minimizing my sin nor despairing of your mercy. Help me own my wrong fully and plainly, without excuse, and at the same time cast myself on you, to whom belong mercy and forgiveness. Both are true; thank you that I can confess both.